


The Last One Standing

by BlackSnakeWhistling



Category: Naruto
Genre: And in you too, And stop thwarting yourself that's no good, Angst? I think so, Guilt, Hatake Sakumo - Freeform, Have a little faith in your relatives, I Should Stop Tagging, I'm crying, It could have been worse, It get better before it goes worse, Multi, Non-Binary Orochimaru, Orochimaru Being Orochimaru (Naruto), Orochimaru will too, Sakumo needs a hug, Sakumo you insufferable goofy imitation of a rug, So much guilt, That also counts for my ability to tag, The Tanto, Yokaiish Hatakes, Yokaiish Orochimaru, Your father is an idiot, and Kakashi, but he means well, my first attempt at writing in english, poor cub
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28923204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackSnakeWhistling/pseuds/BlackSnakeWhistling
Summary: Sakumo is a wolf. And a wolf care for its pack.Sakumo is a fool. And a fool makes the wrong decisions. (He did. He knows it.)Deep down, in that secluded corner of his soul, the wolf rages at him. Why bother with the rules of men when a pretty yokai would happily spend eternity with him.Sakumo is human. He wants the approbation of his peers. He muzzled the wolf. Shied away from his instincts.Maybe Sakumo isn't totally human. But he definitely is a fool.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Hatake Sakumo, Hatake Sakumo & Orochimaru, Hatake Sakumo/Orochimaru, Hatake Sakumo/canonical wife (implied)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	The Last One Standing

**Author's Note:**

> This ship lacks worshippers. And works. I'll never get tired of them.  
> So here I stand, facing the cliff, looking at the sun slowly rising with my arms hazaphardly covered in feathers and wax. The maze is behind me and I finally dare to show the world my first creation. I will fly or fall, but I don't care and the depth of the raging sea will cradle me in their darkness anyway.
> 
> I tried my best. Now suffer.

A shinobi's life is restless. You know when and where you start - mostly - but you never know when missions are going to end. It is stressful and ruthless and deadly. And Sakumo, for all he is a man of action, loves the calm of quiet evenings in the village with his friends.

He loves it. Always had. It feels like having a pack again. Most people don't understand what pack is. Family is close enough a concept, but people as a whole baffle him and he's never quite sure if he acted the right way or not. He really tries to do good. And he improves. But there are only so few people with whom he can relax enough not to feel pressured into a role.

Orochimaru is one of them. He has known the Snake Sannin for a long time, what with being Tsunade's cousin. And to be honest, Orochimaru is his favourite person. The Sannin is ruthless, sharp in ways that leave him breathless. And they understands. The both of them grew up in clans tightly linked with their summons, where pack - or clutch - were everything. And they both lost that.

The firsts meetings had been awkward to say the least. Tsunade loved to use Orochimaru as a life size doll, braiding their hair. The young genius let her, caught somewhere between bafflement and fond exasperation. Sakumo used to turn into a wolf and lay near them. (Oro gave the best scratches.)

The two of them soon found a companionship of sort. Sakumo always appreciated their openness of mind and their humor. A tad off beat for most people, but he more often than not found it hilarious. Later they started spending leisure afternoons together training and drinking tea and discussing various subjects. Sakumo loved talking about clan lore, the stories and knacks and rituals, what lies behind it, how to interpret it. Orochimaru's remarks were always insightful and... personal? He loved it.

Orochimaru had always mesmerized him. The graceful movements and sharp words, eerie looks and intricate feelings. They reminded him of a yokai at times. An entity masquerading as human. ~~(Deep, buried somewhere at the back of his mind, the wolf in him identified with that.)~~

And Sakumo loved spending time with them. Even when the conversations went to the brink of making him uncomfortable.

Sakumo didn't remember what led to this conversation - maybe it was after Jiraiya's departure or Tsunade's - but this moment is burned into his memory, as if captured by sharingan.

Orochimaru had slowly turned to him. His gaze unblinking, unmovable, scrutinizing as a snake's eyes, and old - no, ageless - but wild-edged and lit with fierce determination. As Sakumo would have pictured the eyes of the uwabamis his uncles told him about at night.

"I don't plan on leaving anytime."

Not anytime soon. Anytime.

Orochimaru would stay. No matter what. Sakumo's heart has fluttered with joy and a smile had almost grazed his lips, when...

Leaving. What did leaving mean? A shiver ran down Sakumo's spine.

Trust the Snake Sannin to twist his words. His are double edged, just as comforting as frightening, just like their smiles. It had drawn Sakumo's attention at first, and it still did, but he had learnt to pay attention to the subtle warnings. To look underneath the underneath as it is there that the current change. You ought to be careful around still water.

Not leaving.

Not leaving their teammates.

Not leaving their home.

Not leaving Konoha.

Not leaving first.

Not leaving at all.

Not dying.

And in the face of that unfaltering gaze. In the face of the ageless features of Orochimaru. In the face of the snake coiling lazily around his neck. In the face of those words, softly spoken, but assured, certain, as an unavoidable truth, Sakumo had believed it.

He believed Orochimaru would be there. Unwavering, assessing, calculating. The white snake, immortal and ageless, who will roam the earth until the end. The last one standing. Pondering on the ruins of the world they know. Towering the remnant of petty feuds and desperate struggles, as the shinigami they appeared to be on the battlefield, looking for upcoming wars, upcoming civilisations, upcoming discoveries.

Sakumo had believed him. Orochimaru hadn't planned on leaving anytime. And they would do has they had said - promised. It had the solemnity of an oath. They would find a way. They always do.

Sakumo had swallowed harshly and returned to admiring the garden, licking his lips. But he hadn't seen it. He hadn't seen the setting sun ablazing the sky and the drying leaves of the forest. He hadn't seen the fireflies dancing in the lurking shadows. He hadn't seen the flowers closing for the night, darkening.

He hadn't seen anything except for the androgynous slope of Orochimaru's face, burnt into his memory. The almost surreal features and the otherwordly grace the other possessed and showed only when he thought no one was looking, when no one would notice. Sakumo wasn't sure even Tsunade and Jirayia consciously noticed. It was a subrepticious thing - not the mind-blowing contortions they so often showcased. Steps too swaying, a grace unnatural even for a dancer, for a shinobi, a too great ability on sneaking up on people and merging with the shadows...

Sakumo had the creeping suspicion Orichimaru wasn't entirely human. Was _more_ than human.

And that would explain so much. Because Orochimaru wasn't evil. Twisted, of course. Ruthless, indeed. Immoral... no, amoral. Orochimaru had never been good at pretending to have morals. Never truly managed to discern what the notions of good and evil entailed, and where was the blurry line in between.

Orochimaru was the snake they emulated. But with just enough humanity to understand feelings. To experience them on a complex level. Because, never, never had Sakumo smelled emotions on them that weren't nuanced, volatile or consuming...

But Orochimaru was detached from the Human world, enough for it to become dangerous. They meant well - most of the time - and truly wanted to help. But that backfired more often than not and created a gap between them and the others. Orochimaru reached "good" conclusions with skewed reasoning, and "bad" conclusions with logical reasoning.(Again, how to apply these terms to them?)

However, somehow, Sakumo hadn't been _scared_. It had been the sinking feeling of an unavoidable truth, one that you had guessed or unconsciously knew. The golden orbs had reflected no lies but a fact. Their owner would be one of the last entity roaming on Earth. In a way - it hadn't surprised him. Hadn't shocked him. Hadn't horrified him.

Sakumo had been unexpectedly at peace with that knowledge. Sure, it had wrenched quite a few things in his vision of the scheme of things. But he hadn't been able to think it as unnatural.

(It could have been the stories from his clan lore troubling his mind. It could have been his passionate love of the uncanny.)

_(It could have been the electricity he felt humming in his veins on stormy nights, the pull to start running into the forest, his clan unnatural ability to smell and sense what isn't quite right or from this world, his fur silvery and shining in the light hidden under his human skin...)_

~~(It could have been all that, but in a dark corner of his mind he wished to see it. To see them turn from a snake to a dragon. To be at the side of his lovely, deadly orochi. In a corner of his soul he long learnt to hide from the humans surrounding him - long enough that he forgot about it, feels it in a distant, fuzzy way, lost touch with it as he lost his pack - the ookami made a keening sound, electricity buzzing around them as it turned round and round in that dark cave where it never saw the moon anymore. The ookami wanted to run into the wilderness until its paws bleed, to howl at the moon until it was panting, to stay by the loyal! brilliant! mesmerizing! yokaii and to mark them as mate, to stay together until the stars came crashing down and the shadow of the moon swallowed life as a whole.)~~

( ~~The wolf wanted so much and yet here it remained, frustrated and caged by the one who shouldn't ever do so, the one who himself was so afraid of collars and leashes.~~ And in the back of his mind Sakumo felt that something was inherently wrong, however, despite his best effort he couldn't quite put his finger on what.)

(He had been oblivious, and lost, and coward enough that he hadn't asked Orochimaru to be pack - probably wouldn't ever, too afraid to lose what they had, the easy trust and affection he so adored - he wanted to be a good shinobi, a good Konoha citizen, diligent, loyal, selfless. He craved the affection of the people and the system that he despised at times and thrived in at others. He is from a pack more than a clan, and as a kid he was taught that Konoha was home - was pack - and he would always look for Konoha's approval - sometimes it's... better. He didn't feel as he got to pretend, but that's usually in the forest, with his friends, with Orochimaru. Mostly with Orochimaru, who never judges and has a wicked sense of humor and nibbled on squirrels alongside him.)

(But Orochimaru wasn't good. Everyone said that. He didn't believe them : he knew his friend. But being told something repeatedly over the years always leaves a scar. And without noticing, Sakumo blamed this uneasy feeling on Orochimaru.)

(When he trod the threshold of his own house later this evening, he realized it. And didn't know what to do with that knowledge. ~~The wolf growled at him.~~ )

(When far later he had made his mind and gave Orochimaru a forehead kiss, had watched them vanish away - with a worried frown from his action - on that mission, he felt like he failed them. He knew then what was inherently wrong was within _him_. And he failed them. _Orochimaru, Ayame, Kakashi_. _He failed them in ways he shouldn't have_. He hated himself for it. He couldn't take this feeling anymore. He had seen them all walk away - not always willingly - and _he couldn't afford to be a burden anymore_.)

(He fetched his tanto and sat in seiza in his office. Unsheathed, the blade shone in the dim light. He hesitated. Berated himself for being a _coward_. He was not as strong and cunning as Orochimaru. Not as optimistic and wise as Ayame. Not as independent and smart as Kakashi.)

(But he knows how to gut a man.)

(And as life left him, in a pool of his own blood, he panicked. Thought of his pack.)

( _In the end he is one to abandon them._ )

(In his last breath he bit back a sob. In the back of his mind the wolf howled.)

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this on the lack of sleep, frustration of rare pair hell and my obsessive brain.  
> [It was brought to my attention that I had mixed things up with the verbs and pronouns. I deeply apologize. I tried to fix it and I hope it's good now, and I wanted to add that I encourage constructive criticism, and if my works proves to be offensive I will gladly hear you out and adjust it accordingly.]
> 
> Thanks again for reading my work


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